Hong Kong by Stephen Coonts Page B
Authors: Stephen Coonts
Tags: Fiction, Suspense, Americans, Thrillers, Espionage, Political, Conspiracies, china, Grafton; Jake (Fictitious character)
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remarks totally unintelligible.
Carmellini unzipped his overalls, shrugged them off his shoulders,
and sat.
He sat listening for almost fifteen minutes, then flushed noisily and rearranged his clothing.
When he opened the stall door, the room was empty.
Carmellini was listening at the door of the men's room when he heard footsteps. He got away from the door just in time. It swung open, and the man, wearing a PLA officer's uniform, looked startled. Tommy nodded pleasantly and walked out.
The hallway was empty. He went down a flight of stairs, walked toward the service entrance, passed the table with the two security guards, and went out into the parking area. The other three men were still inside. Carmellini got behind the wheel of one of the vans and sat staring at the side of City Hall, waiting.
Everybody in Hong Kong seemed to be on their way to the Central District this morning. Public transportation facilities were packed, with long lines of people waiting to board subway trains, buses, taxis, and the Star Ferry at Tsim Sha Tsui. PLA soldiers at the Central District subway station, the MTR, tried to prevent people leaving the trains at that stop, but there were too many people and the soldiers were overwhelmed. Taxis and buses were directed not to discharge passengers when they stopped at the usual stops, so they stopped in the middle of city blocks and opened their doors. By ten in the morning at least ten thousand people were in the square in front of the Bank of the Orient and on the surrounding sidewalks.
That was the situation when General Tang arrived direct from the governor's office in City Hall. He became angry with his officers, whom he felt should have made greater efforts to prevent the crowd from gathering.
'Since we failed to prevent the crowd from gathering, now we must make it disperse," he instructed the staff, only to be told that the officers
doubted they had enough soldiers present to make much of a show. Ordering the crowd to leave without sufficient soldiers to enforce the order would make the PLA appear ridiculous, an object of scorn.
"In accordance with your instructions, sir, we have used our men to prevent news media from congregating here."
"Why not prevent everyone from congregating?"
"We tried, sir, but we simply did not have enough men."
Tang lost his temper. "Why did you wait for me to tell you to get more men? This demonstration is a direct affront to the government. It is a crime against the state and will not be tolerated! Order the police to send all available men here. They should have been here already, preventing this crowd from gathering in an unlawful assembly."
"Sir, we have discussed this matter with the police, who say they have no spare men to send. All are engaged in law enforcement and traffic control duties elsewhere."
"Get more soldiers, as many as you need. Have them brought here by truck as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir."
Tang found a vantage point in a third-floor office of a nearby building. The civilians who worked for a shipping company were ejected and the soldiers moved in. From here Tang could see that the crowd below consisted of men, women, and children, all well behaved. People sat visiting with each other and, as the noon hour approached, ate snacks brought from home. Water and food vendors worked the crowd.
"Why have you allowed these vendors to congregate here?" Tang demanded of his staff. "Run them off."
The soldiers tried. The vendors promptly gave away everything on their carts and obeyed the soldiers, who laughed along with the crowd. Watching from above, Tang was coldly furious.
"Two hours, sir. We will have another two hundred men here within two hours."
"By truck?"
"Yes, sir. The trucks must go through the Cross-Harbor Tunnel, which is crowded at this hour."
Tang could contain his fury no longer. He stormed at the staff, berated them at the top of his lungs. When he had vented his ire, he retired to a private office and slammed the
Carmellini unzipped his overalls, shrugged them off his shoulders,
and sat.
He sat listening for almost fifteen minutes, then flushed noisily and rearranged his clothing.
When he opened the stall door, the room was empty.
Carmellini was listening at the door of the men's room when he heard footsteps. He got away from the door just in time. It swung open, and the man, wearing a PLA officer's uniform, looked startled. Tommy nodded pleasantly and walked out.
The hallway was empty. He went down a flight of stairs, walked toward the service entrance, passed the table with the two security guards, and went out into the parking area. The other three men were still inside. Carmellini got behind the wheel of one of the vans and sat staring at the side of City Hall, waiting.
Everybody in Hong Kong seemed to be on their way to the Central District this morning. Public transportation facilities were packed, with long lines of people waiting to board subway trains, buses, taxis, and the Star Ferry at Tsim Sha Tsui. PLA soldiers at the Central District subway station, the MTR, tried to prevent people leaving the trains at that stop, but there were too many people and the soldiers were overwhelmed. Taxis and buses were directed not to discharge passengers when they stopped at the usual stops, so they stopped in the middle of city blocks and opened their doors. By ten in the morning at least ten thousand people were in the square in front of the Bank of the Orient and on the surrounding sidewalks.
That was the situation when General Tang arrived direct from the governor's office in City Hall. He became angry with his officers, whom he felt should have made greater efforts to prevent the crowd from gathering.
'Since we failed to prevent the crowd from gathering, now we must make it disperse," he instructed the staff, only to be told that the officers
doubted they had enough soldiers present to make much of a show. Ordering the crowd to leave without sufficient soldiers to enforce the order would make the PLA appear ridiculous, an object of scorn.
"In accordance with your instructions, sir, we have used our men to prevent news media from congregating here."
"Why not prevent everyone from congregating?"
"We tried, sir, but we simply did not have enough men."
Tang lost his temper. "Why did you wait for me to tell you to get more men? This demonstration is a direct affront to the government. It is a crime against the state and will not be tolerated! Order the police to send all available men here. They should have been here already, preventing this crowd from gathering in an unlawful assembly."
"Sir, we have discussed this matter with the police, who say they have no spare men to send. All are engaged in law enforcement and traffic control duties elsewhere."
"Get more soldiers, as many as you need. Have them brought here by truck as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir."
Tang found a vantage point in a third-floor office of a nearby building. The civilians who worked for a shipping company were ejected and the soldiers moved in. From here Tang could see that the crowd below consisted of men, women, and children, all well behaved. People sat visiting with each other and, as the noon hour approached, ate snacks brought from home. Water and food vendors worked the crowd.
"Why have you allowed these vendors to congregate here?" Tang demanded of his staff. "Run them off."
The soldiers tried. The vendors promptly gave away everything on their carts and obeyed the soldiers, who laughed along with the crowd. Watching from above, Tang was coldly furious.
"Two hours, sir. We will have another two hundred men here within two hours."
"By truck?"
"Yes, sir. The trucks must go through the Cross-Harbor Tunnel, which is crowded at this hour."
Tang could contain his fury no longer. He stormed at the staff, berated them at the top of his lungs. When he had vented his ire, he retired to a private office and slammed the
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